Letter to School Faculty requesting Bullying Curricula

My name is ___________________________. I have a child in ____ grade at ______________________

I’m would like to discuss a very important subject that is not only a concern for me but also affects students in elementary, middle school and high school.

According to bullying experts, bullying creates a fearful environment that impacts learning. Approximately 14% of high school students and 22% of middle school students reported that bullying diminishes their ability to learn in school. Bullying may cause post-traumatic stress, eating disorders, self-mutilation, withdrawal, depression and anxiety disorders. Some of these disorders are short-term, while others fester into adulthood.

Bullied children want to find relief from their pain. Without the proper education and support, children may feel alienated and hopeless. This desperation can and has caused a victim of bullying to commit suicide attributed to long-term peer abuse.

It is a child’s right to learn in a safe environment. We need to offer children the opportunity to learn how to prevent, handle and report bullying. If children aren’t given the opportunity to learn how to protect themselves and others from bullying, we deny their fundamental right to learn the skills to thrive and survive in school, at home and in their communities.

The time has come when bullying education must be part of the school curriculum. We can no longer pretend that bullying and cyber bullying are not part of the school culture and that technology does not heavily influence a student’s life for the better or the worse.

We must have classes that teach bullying education that spells out very clear consequences for behavior that is detrimental to any student’s success. Today, I ask you to consider including bullying curricula into schools starting at the middle school level.